Sustainable Intensification

In June 2014, The RISE Foundation launched its review on The Sustainable Intensification of European Agriculture. The report was launched at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS).

The concept of Sustainable Intensification (SI) is used in the context of feeding a global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. The RISE report comprises the first analysis of SI in a European context, and argues it must be the paradigm within which future agricultural policy is made in the EU.

The report makes three key points:

The agricultural input which needs to be intensified across all of Europe is knowledge per hectare. This means knowledge in managing delicate ecosystems, knowledge to ensure that pollinator populations thrive, knowledge to make water management minimise flooding, as well as knowledge to achieve more food output per hectare.

The EU needs to devise a measurement tool for environmental farming performance. It would be strongly preferable to build on an EU-wide set of indicators already developed, for example the Joint Research Centre’s IRENA indicators.

In addition to better enforcement of existing environmental regulations, and using policy measures under the CAP,changes in farming practices must also come from farmers and private actors themselves. Many companies up- and downstream already operate sustainability schemes, some of which are reviewed in the report. These should be strengthened and broadened, with more efforts to monitor and demonstrate their impact.

“This report represents the first systematic look at the policies needed to prepare European agriculture for the challenges of the 21st century. It represents a tremendous contribution to future rounds of CAP reform”, said Dr. Franz Fischler.

“The report makes clear that the next increase in global food output must come from continued intensification of existing agricultural land, and that this must be accompanied by a steep reduction in the negative environmental consequences of agriculture”, commented Professor Buckwell. “The last round of negotiations failed to produce meaningful green reform of the CAP, which is why this report is written with the 2017 mid-term review in mind”.

Workshops on the Sustainable Intensification of European Agriculture

As part of the consultation process of the RISE study, the Foundation held three consultative workshops on the subject - at the European Parliament, at a Workshop in the Squre and during the Forum for the Future of Agriculture. The following brochure was presented at the workshops to inspire debate. You can also find below the report of the write up of the workshop at the Square, Brussels.